Teams & Riders Froome Talk Only

[BullsFan22]

Re:

This incident is being way overblown, for starters Froome merely bridge a gap he didn't ride away from the field. Where are the suspicons about Sagan who the day after decimating half the breakaway manages to ride away form the entire peleton with a teammate? Secondly Froome is one of the best ttist on the planet it is normal that he can bridge acroos to sprinter sagan and bodnar. Thirdly froome was easily beaten by sagan in the sprint so once again the clinic is overeacting big time.

Nobody's overreacting. Sagan easily beating Froome in a sprint is hardly a surprise. Sagan has won all kind's of sprints to the line, one vs one, a small group of 4 or 5, a medium sized bunch with climbers and punchers/rolleurs, and a big bunch with everyone in the group, including top sprinters. Had Froome beaten Sagan in a sprint for the line in today's type of finish, after breaking away, then you'd see this thread coming alive. We'll see what Froome pulls out of his bag tomorrow. I just hope Quintana has something more to offer than sitting behind Froome.

 

[Benotti69]

Re: Re:

This incident is being way overblown, for starters Froome merely bridge a gap he didn't ride away from the field. Where are the suspicons about Sagan who the day after decimating half the breakaway manages to ride away form the entire peleton with a teammate? Secondly Froome is one of the best ttist on the planet it is normal that he can bridge acroos to sprinter sagan and bodnar. Thirdly froome was easily beaten by sagan in the sprint so once again the clinic is overeacting big time.

He chased down Sagan whilst Cancellara couldnt bridge them.

Thats Sagan a power Classics rider and Cancellara not just a Classics Legend but multiple world TT champion who opn your theory should have closed the gap no worries.

Have a look to see who had been pulling on the front for about 5k before the break

5k is nothing for Canc, he rode way from 17 riders for 50 k and put minutes into them!

 

[kwikki]

The Sagan breakaway crossed the line 6 seconds before the chasers.

Let's not exagerrate this.

 

[doperhopper]

Re:

Get prepared for more comedy tomorrow everyone. I've been staying in Violès the last few days and rode to Ventoux this morning. It is currently windy as all F$&K here, a ripping SSW, so strong I was doing 50kmh coming home so easy that Mrs 42x16ss was keeping up no problem.

It's gonna be quick tomorrow!

and worse, shortened Ventoux has "Pierre St. Martin" written on its chalet Reynard

 

[BYOP88]

Guys just calm down, I know what happened. With just over 12km to go an SOS came over the race radio(not the forum guy) saying that a small child was trapped under a car wheel at the finish line. So Froome just hit the gas to get to the finish as quickly as possible because he's the only guy who can lift car wheels from trapped children.

 

[BullsFan22]

And not surprisingly, the commenters under today's results suggesting Froome is suspicious are called 'trolls' and 'need to move on,' or 'get a life...' by the Armstrong-esque supporters. I guess we humans just don't learn, or at least not fast enough!

 

[Fearless Greg Lemond]

Tactical masterclass. But.

Either Froomedog is ultra strong, or he is relatively weak - as in already in peak and will (slowly) decay - and afraid for the mountains coming and trying to build a lead. Too bad for the shortening of Ventoux tomorrow, fireworks were immenent.

 

[BullsFan22]

Re:

Guys just calm down, I know what happened. With just over 12km to go an SOS came over the race radio(not the forum guy) saying that a small child was trapped under a car wheel at the finish line. So Froome just hit the gas to get to the finish as quickly as possible because he's the only guy who can lift car wheels from trapped children.

Good one! BTW, what happened to race radio (the forum guy)? Maybe I haven't noticed his posts, but from what I can remember, he hasn't posted here in a long while.

 

[Huapango]

Re:

Tactical masterclass. But.

Either Froomedog is ultra strong, or he is relatively weak - as in already in peak and will (slowly) decay - and afraid for the mountains coming and trying to build a lead. Too bad for the shortening of Ventoux tomorrow, fireworks were immenent.

Froome not on drugs: ¨Damn, there´s a tough stage tomorrow. I think I´ll do my best to suck wheel and not waste too much energy today.¨

Froome on drugs: ¨Whooooooo hooooo! I feel so good. Time to attack! Hahahahahahaha! Cookie´s got my back beeches!

 

[BYOP88]

Re: Re:

Guys just calm down, I know what happened. With just over 12km to go an SOS came over the race radio(not the forum guy) saying that a small child was trapped under a car wheel at the finish line. So Froome just hit the gas to get to the finish as quickly as possible because he's the only guy who can lift car wheels from trapped children.

Good one! BTW, what happened to race radio (the forum guy)? Maybe I haven't noticed his posts, but from what I can remember, he hasn't posted here in a long while.

No idea.

 

[thehog]

Re: Re:

Tactical masterclass. But.

Either Froomedog is ultra strong, or he is relatively weak - as in already in peak and will (slowly) decay - and afraid for the mountains coming and trying to build a lead. Too bad for the shortening of Ventoux tomorrow, fireworks were immenent.

Froome not on drugs: ¨Damn, there´s a tough stage tomorrow. I think I´ll do my best to suck wheel and not waste too much energy today.¨

Froome on drugs: ¨Whooooooo hooooo! I feel so good. Time to attack! Hahahahahahaha! Cookie´s got my back beeches!

What a difference a rest day makes, I think G must have had arm warmers on yesterday as well!

 

[kwikki]

Re:

Tactical masterclass. But.

Either Froomedog is ultra strong, or he is relatively weak - as in already in peak and will (slowly) decay - and afraid for the mountains coming and trying to build a lead. Too bad for the shortening of Ventoux tomorrow, fireworks were immenent.

He couldn't unstick Quintana on the climb, but he could unstick him on the descent and on the flat.

I think that tells you something. Today's attack was high risk/low gain. He did it because he needed to.

By contrast Quintana has done nothing. Yet.

It'll come down to the third week. Last year Froome clung on. This year?

 

[Lyon]

Re:

Edit, moved from Froome data thread.

So what do you think Froome is doing to gain an advantage that any of the other really great riders aren't?

Surely, after 4 years since Sky have been successful the 'knowledge' has disseminated across and to other teams?

I am genuinely baffled. Beyond, having some sort of external advantage from the authorities I really can't see what it is that Sky could have that other teams couldn't, and by that I mean both pharmaceutical and mechanical doping. My own view is that the peloton is as dirty as ever, and Froome's story just doesn't add up, but I can't account for why.

Indurain was at his most dominating in 95, four years after winning his first tour. By that time even the french knew what it was all about, still nobody could touch him. Sky dominating is not about any one thing, but a number of different ones all combined into one big package. The program is probably simple enough, and well enough known by others, but the day to day overseeing of it is not. Experience is what Sky have over the other teams.

 

[Praying Mantis]

Recent events inspired me to reflect on these moments in history.

 

[Benotti69]

Andrew James @badbrainAJ
@140CharTerror Can confirm RAI comms were laughing also.

 

[PremierAndrew]

Re:

Recent events inspired me to reflect on these moments in history.

Have to say that I find this photo hilarious now

 

[argel]

I'm a massive cynic, but I believe in Froome these days. I don't see how Sky could have kept the cat in the bag for so long. There are far too many people in cycling who want them to fail, and yet here we are and not even an allegation? Not a single man or woman scorned? No incentive from someone to spill and tip them off? Come on. Deep down we all know that's how the LA stuff started and he dodged so much during his career it was a running joke by the time he first 'retired'.

What interests me most is that there are many people within Sky who would have far more to lose now post-success by carrying on with a systemic programme than they did with Wiggins winning a 1-off 'British victory' and then just knocking it on the head a bit. Brailsford after that would have been best served leaving the team if he thought there was a possibility of getting caught because he'd made millions and earned a knighthood - and if you're doing something, then nobody can categorically believe they'll never get caught. Similarly, after winning twice, Froome has very little reason to risk tainting those wins by going for a third unless he's clean. I realise we can point at LA and say that there's a certain personality type, but I don't see it with Froome. He's the polar opposite of LA, who was a bit of a *** to all and sundry.

I think there's a rightful suspicion of many riders, but it just seems like people are throwing *** at the wall now and hoping something sticks. First it was needle doping, then it was something unknown, then it's become moto doping... seems like conspiracy theories more than hard evidence. I'm all for scepticism, I've been burned like the rest of us have in the past, but it requires an enormous leap to believe that Sky have a magic illegal formula that nobody else has access to.

I think the thing they have that nobody else has is simple - money. They hoover up riders and pay them more than they could ever imagine making in cycling - but they do so on the proviso that cycling becomes their life.Every aspect of their diet, training, sleep etc is controlled to a degree that other teams simply can't or won't do with their riders. I think deep down most cynics realise that regardless of whether he is or isn't, Froome has a massively OTT training regimen, even for a GC contender.

Also, today was a classic example of a team that was aware from minute one that it was going to be a tough stage and cause huge splits. Movistar looked like amateurs in comparison, and left Quintana hanging on his own in the middle of a flying GC group... it was embarrassing to watch pro cycling teams screw up so badly. People are talking about the peloton chasing them down, but this wasn't an organised, 2/3 team engine pulling the peloton along, it was one team at most and then a collection of engines that were already at breaking point. Similarly on the downhill break, movistar sat up at the top of the climb and Froome just kept pedalling. Quintana was having a drink and then realised he needed to catch Froome, then waited for Valverde... they let him have a few seconds with their own inattentive attitude and his capacity to outperform 99% of the peloton in all disciplines.

Again, I don't think we can really look at sky and say for sure something is going on until the other big teams are actually perfecting their racecraft and tactical awareness. In addition, he is a physical freak. I think you're all going to be proved wrong one day, because if he's doping or moto doping, some day it will all come out. If it doesn't over the next 10-20 years, I hope you have the guts to face up to your accusations being unproven.

 

[Huapango]

Re:

I'm a massive cynic, but I believe in Froome these days. I don't see how Sky could have kept the cat in the bag for so long. There are far too many people in cycling who want them to fail, and yet here we are and not even an allegation? Not a single man or woman scorned? No incentive from someone to spill and tip them off? Come on. Deep down we all know that's how the LA stuff started and he dodged so much during his career it was a running joke by the time he first 'retired'.

What interests me most is that there are many people within Sky who would have far more to lose now post-success by carrying on with a systemic programme than they did with Wiggins winning a 1-off 'British victory' and then just knocking it on the head a bit. Brailsford after that would have been best served leaving the team if he thought there was a possibility of getting caught because he'd made millions and earned a knighthood - and if you're doing something, then nobody can categorically believe they'll never get caught. Similarly, after winning twice, Froome has very little reason to risk tainting those wins by going for a third unless he's clean. I realise we can point at LA and say that there's a certain personality type, but I don't see it with Froome. He's the polar opposite of LA, who was a bit of a *** to all and sundry.

I think there's a rightful suspicion of many riders, but it just seems like people are throwing **** at the wall now and hoping something sticks. First it was needle doping, then it was something unknown, then it's become moto doping... seems like conspiracy theories more than hard evidence. I'm all for scepticism, I've been burned like the rest of us have in the past, but it requires an enormous leap to believe that Sky have a magic illegal formula that nobody else has access to.

I think the thing they have that nobody else has is simple - money. They hoover up riders and pay them more than they could ever imagine making in cycling - but they do so on the proviso that cycling becomes their life.Every aspect of their diet, training, sleep etc is controlled to a degree that other teams simply can't or won't do with their riders. I think deep down most cynics realise that regardless of whether he is or isn't, Froome has a massively OTT training regimen, even for a GC contender.

Also, today was a classic example of a team that was aware from minute one that it was going to be a tough stage and cause huge splits. Movistar looked like amateurs in comparison, and left Quintana hanging on his own in the middle of a flying GC group... it was embarrassing to watch pro cycling teams screw up so badly. People are talking about the peloton chasing them down, but this wasn't an organised, 2/3 team engine pulling the peloton along, it was one team at most and then a collection of engines that were already at breaking point. Similarly on the downhill break, movistar sat up at the top of the climb and Froome just kept pedalling. Quintana was having a drink and then realised he needed to catch Froome, then waited for Valverde... they let him have a few seconds with their own inattentive attitude and his capacity to outperform 99% of the peloton in all disciplines.

Again, I don't think we can really look at sky and say for sure something is going on until the other big teams are actually perfecting their racecraft and tactical awareness. In addition, he is a physical freak. I think you're all going to be proved wrong one day, because if he's doping or moto doping, some day it will all come out. If it doesn't over the next 10-20 years, I hope you have the guts to face up to your accusations being unproven.

This equation might help you understand a bit more: Brailsford + Cookson + UKAD + ASO = untouchable. I´m sure a few of the forum veterans might be able to help me clean up the math a bit.

 

[ontheroad]

You started off by saying you are a massive cynic and then produced a party political broadcast on behalf of sky. Dear god, there is so much gullibility in the above post I wouldn't know where to begin.

 

[argel]

I'm a cycling fan, I get the context and the history.

I don't get how you buy the silence of everyone. Soigneurs, riders, coaches... Lance's accusations were still present even when the UCI were covering up for him. There were plenty of people willing to stake their jobs and their reputations on him doping, even knowing that the whole machine was against them.

Now to me, it is strange that having seen those people vindicated later, there has not been a single person attached to Sky that has been willing to lift the lid, knowing they would eventually be proved to be on the right side of history. Inconceivable.

 

[argel]

Re:

You started off by saying you are a massive cynic and then produced a party political broadcast on behalf of sky. Dear god, there is so much gullibility in the above post I wouldn't know where to begin.

Well I don't like Sky the company. I think one thing I hate about them is that they have effectively 'money doped' and blown the rest away. I don't like seeing it in other sports either, but as much as I dislike them as a team and how they have made cycling a bit of a chore to watch, I find the 'they must be doing SOMETHING' brigade equally a boring.

It's really simple - nobody seems to have any evidence. There are no whistleblowers (and they've seen people vindicated now...) and no accusations from well-placed riders or from embittered former employees... the physiological data doesn't prove he's doping, there's no evidence of a motor and yet we have people in here talking about a 'new type of motor' it's INSANE.

I am the opposite of naive. I know what doping culture looks like, and I know the things that go hand in hand with it. There has never been a culture of silence around doping, only a culture of ignoring and isolating those making the accusations.

If Froome is ever (and I mean ever) proved to be doping, I will hold my hands up and admit that I was completely wrong.

 

[hrotha]

How many teams from the last few decades have had whistleblowers coming forward? Very, very few.

You don't need to buy people off. You just need not to betray them or chase them out of the sport, and they'll keep their mouths shut because 1) they want to stay in the sport, and 2) they don't want to screw over colleagues and friends.

Lance didn't understand that. He made sure some folks who sacrificed themselves for the sake of the omertà didn't get to enjoy the benefits from doing so. He put them in a lose-lose situation, and they reacted accordingly. You won't find a Betsy Andreu conveniently close to the inner circle of every doping team.

Regardless, if you think Sky is clean (i.e. that a team can win and even dominate the biggest races clean), you're not much of a cynic. You're a huge optimist.

 

[thehog]

Re: Re:

You started off by saying you are a massive cynic and then produced a party political broadcast on behalf of sky. Dear god, there is so much gullibility in the above post I wouldn't know where to begin.

Well I don't like Sky the company. I think one thing I hate about them is that they have effectively 'money doped' and blown the rest away. I don't like seeing it in other sports either, but as much as I dislike them as a team and how they have made cycling a bit of a chore to watch, I find the 'they must be doing SOMETHING' brigade equally a boring.

It's really simple - nobody seems to have any evidence. There are no whistleblowers (and they've seen people vindicated now...) and no accusations from well-placed riders or from embittered former employees... the physiological data doesn't prove he's doping, there's no evidence of a motor and yet we have people in here talking about a 'new type of motor' it's INSANE.

I am the opposite of naive. I know what doping culture looks like, and I know the things that go hand in hand with it. There has never been a culture of silence around doping, only a culture of ignoring and isolating those making the accusations.

If Froome is ever (and I mean ever) proved to be doping, I will hold my hands up and admit that I was completely wrong.

I'm with you, Froome and Sky are clean. When given the chance last year to release data from the PSM climb! Sky choose to release raw data with nothing altered. That tells you they have nothing to hide. And like Froome, who has overcome a debilitating blood virus to transform not only into a mountain climber but a TT specialist and now a rider for the flats. I know, I know people said he showed nothing in the early years but he did win the Atomic Jock Race in South Africa. I've read his book and cross checked the information inside and it's all lines up. He wore sand shoes in a ITT, beat Tour de France winner Alberto Contador on a MTF and watched Basso and Lance slug it out in 2002 or was it 2001? Or 04? Doesn't matter, he watched them slug it out.

 

[msjett]

OMG!! Hog I read that and almost believed you!!! But I had a good LOL

 

[MartinGT]

Wait on is this how you prep for the 3rd week?